These bees are extremely effective at pollinating plants like blueberries, cranberries and cherries — and are vital to the health of eggplant and tomatoes, which honey bees cannot pollinate, reports the USDA. But like their honey bee compatriots, wild bees are also facing food shortages, disease and habitat loss.

A visualization of the Pollinator Pathway in Seattle (Photo: Olson Kundig)

But Bilot’s plan is a tad different: she wants to transform parking lots into bee homes. In just a mile-and-a-half section of Houston, Texas — where Bilot has worked with the city’s Parks Department to plan for new bee habitats — the potential bee living space almost quadruples when parking lots are bee-friendly, she says. Adding pollinator plants to these lots creates a constellation of areas for bees to feed, nest and rest.

“[Most urban parking lots] already have planting regulations attached to them,” Bilot says in a talk at TEDxMileHighWomen. “We just have to use better plants.” Instead of lawn and mulch, Bilot asks for wildflowers and herbs. Instead of oaks or pines, Bilot advocates for fruiting trees. Bilot realizes bees in parking lots might sound a little creepy, but assures it is no big deal. “95% of [native bees] do not sting,” she says. “They are solitary and they live in the ground or in wood.” And if we value our food system, we should value these bees, she says.

A typical parking lot in Houston (Photo: Danielle Bilot)

Bilot’s proposed bee-friendly park-ing lot (Photo: Danielle Bilot)

Relying on typical green spaces (like city parks) to sustain wild bees is not working, she says. Some of these bees are so tiny that they can “only fly about three blocks before they need more food, and can die trying to get [to it].” Bees need pit stops for bees to recharge and refuel.

“Parking lots are an eyesore and a poor use of land, in my opinion,” Bilot says, “but [that] doesn’t mean that they have to be.” When landscaped for bees, parking lots can be fragrant and beautiful things — and help keep fresh blueberries on our plates.

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